Obama urges FCC to adopt tough net neutrality rules

In his most direct effort yet to influence the debate about the Internet’s future, President Barack Obama said on Monday that a free and open Internet was as critical to Americans’ lives as electricity and telephone service and should be regulated like those utilities to protect consumers.

According to the New York Times, Obama said the Federal Communications Commission should adopt rules to prevent broadband companies from blocking or slowing legal content and allowing a paid fast lane for content to reach consumers faster.

“For almost a century, our law has recognized that companies who connect you to the world have special obligations not to exploit the monopoly they enjoy over access into and out of your home or business,” said Obama, who is traveling in Asia, in a statement. “It is common sense that the same philosophy should guide any service that is based on the transmission of information — whether a phone call or a packet of data.”

Read more from the New York Times.